Yesterday, that would be this past Sunday, my older daughter and her son, Alex, and I took a little drive over the mountain to another little "local" village here -one I haven't been to in many a year now.
The reason for our drive over and down to Karthaus was because my closest friend from high school was down at her family home along with her brother and sister as they were clearing out her Mom's belongings -clothes, furniture, etc. Her Mom, who is now 93 years old, had stopped a year ago from spending her winters in Florida with her surviving son and her summers back here, alone in the family home in Karthaus. But up until 2 years ago, she was coming here usually in late March and staying by herself there and then, returning to her son's home in Florida in/around October or so. Quite a darned good feat for someone in that age range to still be able to be self-sufficient like that up till she was almost 92 years old, don't you think?
Well, last year, it was decided her health, though not terrible, just really wasn't up to the par level her kids felt it should be for her to stay there alone and so, last year, she had gone to Idaho to spend the year with her younger daughter who lives out west there. Apparently she liked the climate and location and such with her younger daughter because she then decided she would stay on out in Idaho.
Back in December, my friend (Cheryl) and her siblings had decided to put their Mom's house on the market. Because this area is a very depressed area and real estate is usually pretty slow to sell here, they figured it would be a long haul before they would get a buyer for the house. However, they got a big surprise when someone bought the place within two weeks after the house was put up for sale!
With the house sale set to close the end of March, Cheryl and her two siblings then were faced with the task of clearing everything out of the house and the only time that the three of them could get back home at the same time was this past week -from March 18th through this Wednesday, the 23rd. They had initially hoped to have an auction sale but that fell through and somehow, within two days of hard work trying to organize their Mom's things and sort through items they each wanted to keep too, they did manage to have a little "house sale" then yesterday.
So, that's why Carrie, Alex and I made the little trip down river to Karthaus.
I was really glad that Carrie (and Alex too) were here and able to go over with me as Carrie is the only one of my kids who really knows Cheryl and her husband, Mitch. Also, the last time Cheryl had seen Carrie -and the only time she'd ever seen Alex -was when he was just a tiny baby, probably only a month, maybe two months old and boy, he sure has changed -and grown -a heck of a lot since then!
It was so nice to be able to visit a little with Cheryl and her siblings as well as to see some folks from down river I hadn't seen in a long while -like another former Classmate, Herb, and his wife Donna. Always good, in my way of thinking, when you can have an enjoyable visit with old friends like that.
While we were talking though, Cheryl's sister told me a story about what had happened recently to her back at her home in Idaho.
Barbara said that she generally attends Mass every Sunday and when she does, she take communion home then to her Mom. A few weeks back, she was unable to get to Mass so had made arrangements with someone at the church to have communion brought to her Mom. Then, last week when she realized she would again be out-of-town over the weekend, she contacted that couple to see if they would be so kind to please bring communion to her Mom in her absence.
The lady assured Barbara that they would do that and no problem, that type of arrangement. Barbara happened then to mention that she was going to be in Pennsylvania to clear out her Mom's home there and the lady asked her where in Pennsylvania she was going. Barb had explained that this is a small village, out in the sticks of central Pennsylvania and most likely the only town near to here that she figured the lady would have heard of was State College and Penn State University.
The woman told Barb then that oh yes, she knew exactly where State College is because they (she and her husband) are from Clearfield County -which is the county where Cheryl's hometown, as well as mine, are located. Upon hearing that, Barb then told her that her hometown is Karthaus and here's where the real surprise came in. The lady then told her that they are from Grassflat -which is where I live!
Barb asked me then if I know any people here in town -now or years back -with the last name of Petro and I said definitely, I do. So she then asked me if I know a Paul Petro and his wife, Karen? Well, I don't know his wife, but Paul grew up about 6-7 houses down the street from my place!
Incredible, isn't it, to be in Idaho, a thousand plus miles away from Pennsylvania and to have someone you've never met before be the person who brings communion to your home for your mother and then, to learn that they just happen to be from the same region in Pennsylvania as you are from! (And from the same school district too!)
Isn't that just amazing though?
As Barb said to me about this event, "The world really is small and getting smaller every day or so it seems at times."
Yes, indeed it is Barb!
And now, tomorrow evening, I get to reunite with Cheryl and Barb, along with their cousin Sharon -also one of my very good high school friends -for dinner over in State College at The Tavern.
And I'm really looking forward to that!
And we'll make the world just a teensy bit smaller during the time we'll have to spend over our meal, you can bet money on that!
Showing posts with label PA. Grassflat. Show all posts
Showing posts with label PA. Grassflat. Show all posts
Monday, March 21, 2011
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Time in Reverse
The past few days have been really exciting for me -mainly because you know how I really enjoy getting things from the past, making new contacts and such. But over the past week now, that aspect of my life has almost been on a level near to overflowing!
First, I really enjoyed -and very much appreciated -all the comments from readers as to their reasons for beginning their blog and also, what keeps them doing it too. I think, like most everyone else, it is my love of communicating on many different levels, that keeps me blogging, keeps me reading too the myriad of blogs I currently subscribe to or that I follow. So many of you take me on trips I could never afford and show me through your pictures as well as words, the beauty of this wide and wonderful world in which we live. People like Rune, up in Norway, Lifecruiser in Sweden, David (Authorblog) McMahon in Australia and bloggers way too numerous to call out here in North America (the U.S. and Canada). You all know who you are though -great pictures and keep 'em coming, please! The information those three above mentioned bloggers put up almost daily on their sites is really fascinating and if you've never checked out any of their blogs, I would highly recommend you click into them. You won't be disappointed, trust me there!
But aside from that -and before I start to get really off track (something I am very good at doing -I think it's commonly called "Rambling" ) let me get to the point of my post today.
From the photo I received on Saturday from my friend, Ki -sister of one of the guys with whom I was confirmed almost 50 years ago -and which I posted here the other day too, I had sent that photo to yet another friend, Pat -a retired Penna. State Trooper. Now Pat and I have been friends for several years but after his class had their 45th class reunion, he did something I thought was really cool.
He researched every member of his class, tracked each one down, got their mailing addresses, e-mail addresses too for those who use that medium, and began sending messages out to the members of his class -asking them to share with him what they are involved in now, send pictures if they wished to share too -of themselves, of their children, grandchildren, trips they take, etc. Then, Pat sends these messages out to his list of classmates as well as a few others -like myself -so we can all kind of keep in contact -virtually anyway -with what others from our school, our area, are doing today.
Something I do have to explain here though is that Pat and I went to different schools together. Remember those old lines from years back -silly responses people would make that were a bit senseless -like "What's the difference between an orange?" Goofy stuff, ya know. Except that with Pat and his classmates, me and my classmates, it was the truth because we graduated from high school, all of us with diplomas that said "West Branch Area High School" on them but we attended different schools -physically speaking.
You see, back in the 50s, the five townships in this area that each borders on the other, decided it would be beneficial to the students as well as to the taxpayers, if they had one school district instead of having two, which had at that time been formed to educate those of us in this geographical area. But, in doing that, a new school had to be built and that took a couple of years to complete. So, for the classes that graduated in 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, from the West Branch Area School District, the kids who lived in Morris or Graham Township attended the Morris Township High School and the rest of us, who lived in Cooper, Karthaus or West Keating Townships (the latter there also being in Clinton County I believe), well we all attended high school at the Cooper Township High School Building.
So, when Pat -who attended the Morris Township schools did this research on the Class of 1961, he did it on both classes -the kids he grew up with, attended school with at the Morris School as well as including those who attended the Cooper School and who he probably had little or no contact with during his school days. Quite a feat, really to do that!
Well, Pat took that Confirmation photo and sent it to his classmates network and last night, I received an e-mail from a girl from the class of 1961 but who had attended the Cooper school, same as I did. Gracie is an old, old friend of mine. We go back in time to probably 7th and 8th grade plus, she also was first married to the son of one of my close neighbors too -Bill Gurbal -who unfortunately was killed in an automobile accident in November of 1964 -just three months after their son -his only child -was born.
Over the years, Gracie and I lost contact although once in a blue moon, I would run into her when she was back in the area for a weekend visit or some such. But through Pat's list of classmates and because he has me on his recipient list -as a "thank you" for helping him to track down some stragglers from the Cooper Class -my e-mail address is included on his list, available to his real classmates.
And last night, I got this great e-mail from Gracie -reconnecting once again -as she told me how many memories she had of the kids in that photo as well as our old church here that had burned to the ground back in May of 1967.
Now, earlier this past week, I had e-mailed a gentleman who is originally from this area and who I have known all my life. HIs family homestead was about seven doors up the street from mine and his mother and aunt were very good friends of my grandparents. His mother and aunt lived in New York (Brooklyn, I think but I'm not positive on that) during the winter months and then, come late spring, they would return here to their homestead and spend the summer in a very familiar setting.
This man, Arthur Sherman, is now 88 years old -in very good health -both mentally and physically -surprised me completely last night when he phoned me! Seems when he awoke yesterday morning, he had (as he explained this to me) announced to his wife that he was going to call me yesterday. And the reason behind that decision was that they had recently purchased a new cell phone -one which gave very good reception to call out from their home (the one they had previously they couldn't get a signal from their home so used it only when they travelled) and with this new phone he also has a service plan that provides him with 700 free minutes per month, so as he told me when we talked, he is going to try his level best to use everyone -or as near as possible -of those 700 minutes of free calling time!
However, he had also told me that he and his wife don't tend to check their e-mail daily but later yesterday afternoon, in checking their e-mail he had found my note to him from two or three days earlier and that note, along with some of the things I had written about to him, solidified his decision then to telephone me!
Now, I ask you, how cool is all of that? Some of these little contact things have come to me via posts on my blog and some, from the wonderful invention of e-mail too. But all of them tie back in one way or another to the tool we all have to have in order to use e-mail or to blog -a good old computer, don't 'cha know!
And finally -yes, all good (or bad sometimes) things do eventually come to an end but I have one more thing that happened yesterday that really fascinates me too.
You'll recall if you've followed my blog for any length of time now, that I am very interested in family tree stuff and I love being able to learn more too about my ethnic background, which is Swedish and Scottish. Since about late 1999 or early 2000 -shortly after I got my first computer at home -I have been communicating with a lady in Mellerud, Sweden -Anneli Andersson. I've even been lucky enough to have met her too on two of her visits to this country -in 2006 and again, in 2007. We write back and forth now and then but not on a steady, regular basis.
However, yesterday I received an e-mail from her telling me about a program she and a friend of hers are going to be starting this coming fall in their local school in Sweden. This will involve children around the ages of 11-12 years old and to set it up, she would like to find a school perhaps in this country that would be willing to set up a program in conjunction with the one she and her friend are going to be doing in Sweden. This would be a communcations type of learning experience for kids in that age range in this country and Sweden that would help these young people to learn language skills, particularly for the Swedish children to learn English better and maybe even assist kids here to pick up a bit of the Swedish language. But it would also be a means for a cultural exchange where each group would learn traditions, the culture, of another country, in a more personal manner. She was thinking perhaps it would only be of interest to children with some Swedish ethnic background, but I think it would be a wonderful way for all kids, regardless of their ethnicity, to learn about another culture -the history, the geography, the social mores and such.
I'm going to work on this here to see if I can stir up enough interest and support between our school district, perhaps through members of the church I belong to as well, and who knows, maybe someone reading this somewhere would be interested in helping my friend, Anneli in Sweden, to get this learning experience off the ground, up and running!
I already volunteered my grandson, Alex, to be a pen pal with Anneli's son, Jonathon. Alex will be 12 in August and Jonathon will be 11 so they are close enough in age to have a lot of common interests and such and I'm fairly certain Alex would really enjoy doing something like this too. Maybe, through him, I could get a teacher or group from his school in Bellefonte, PA to take part in this experience too.
Anneli would also like to receive stories too about people who came to this country -preferably from the Dalsland area in Sweden but I don't think she would turn down emmigration stories from other parts of Sweden (maybe even other countries too) about our ancestors and their journey from there to here.
So, now I ask you -my readers -wherever you are, whatever your ethnic background may be too -do you have any stories passed down from generation to generation about your ancestors and their passage to this country?
I can think of three about some of my ancestors -I'll save them for another post though. (Yeah, I know you're all probably wiping your brows in relief to hear that, aren't you?) How did your ancestors come to America (Canada or the U.S.) ? What made them decide to come here? What difficulties did they have to just get on the boat or on the trip and after they arrived? What type of work did they do then after setting up a home here? And do you or your family observe today any of traditions from the "old country" too?
Lots of questions there and I'm sure many of you could give me lots and lots of stories, answers to these questions.
So if any of you reading this would even like to participate with Anneli in her quest to help the children in her area of Sweden to learn what life was like for the people making this difficult move -regardless of how many years ago it was -that would just be, as the old saying goes, "Icing on the cake." All you have to do is contact me and I can then put you in contact with Anneli too!
Wouldn't it be great though to be a part of a way to share and learn a bit more history and a lot more about other countries, other cultures?
And the value of that would be absolutely priceless.
First, I really enjoyed -and very much appreciated -all the comments from readers as to their reasons for beginning their blog and also, what keeps them doing it too. I think, like most everyone else, it is my love of communicating on many different levels, that keeps me blogging, keeps me reading too the myriad of blogs I currently subscribe to or that I follow. So many of you take me on trips I could never afford and show me through your pictures as well as words, the beauty of this wide and wonderful world in which we live. People like Rune, up in Norway, Lifecruiser in Sweden, David (Authorblog) McMahon in Australia and bloggers way too numerous to call out here in North America (the U.S. and Canada). You all know who you are though -great pictures and keep 'em coming, please! The information those three above mentioned bloggers put up almost daily on their sites is really fascinating and if you've never checked out any of their blogs, I would highly recommend you click into them. You won't be disappointed, trust me there!
But aside from that -and before I start to get really off track (something I am very good at doing -I think it's commonly called "Rambling" ) let me get to the point of my post today.
From the photo I received on Saturday from my friend, Ki -sister of one of the guys with whom I was confirmed almost 50 years ago -and which I posted here the other day too, I had sent that photo to yet another friend, Pat -a retired Penna. State Trooper. Now Pat and I have been friends for several years but after his class had their 45th class reunion, he did something I thought was really cool.
He researched every member of his class, tracked each one down, got their mailing addresses, e-mail addresses too for those who use that medium, and began sending messages out to the members of his class -asking them to share with him what they are involved in now, send pictures if they wished to share too -of themselves, of their children, grandchildren, trips they take, etc. Then, Pat sends these messages out to his list of classmates as well as a few others -like myself -so we can all kind of keep in contact -virtually anyway -with what others from our school, our area, are doing today.
Something I do have to explain here though is that Pat and I went to different schools together. Remember those old lines from years back -silly responses people would make that were a bit senseless -like "What's the difference between an orange?" Goofy stuff, ya know. Except that with Pat and his classmates, me and my classmates, it was the truth because we graduated from high school, all of us with diplomas that said "West Branch Area High School" on them but we attended different schools -physically speaking.
You see, back in the 50s, the five townships in this area that each borders on the other, decided it would be beneficial to the students as well as to the taxpayers, if they had one school district instead of having two, which had at that time been formed to educate those of us in this geographical area. But, in doing that, a new school had to be built and that took a couple of years to complete. So, for the classes that graduated in 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, from the West Branch Area School District, the kids who lived in Morris or Graham Township attended the Morris Township High School and the rest of us, who lived in Cooper, Karthaus or West Keating Townships (the latter there also being in Clinton County I believe), well we all attended high school at the Cooper Township High School Building.
So, when Pat -who attended the Morris Township schools did this research on the Class of 1961, he did it on both classes -the kids he grew up with, attended school with at the Morris School as well as including those who attended the Cooper School and who he probably had little or no contact with during his school days. Quite a feat, really to do that!
Well, Pat took that Confirmation photo and sent it to his classmates network and last night, I received an e-mail from a girl from the class of 1961 but who had attended the Cooper school, same as I did. Gracie is an old, old friend of mine. We go back in time to probably 7th and 8th grade plus, she also was first married to the son of one of my close neighbors too -Bill Gurbal -who unfortunately was killed in an automobile accident in November of 1964 -just three months after their son -his only child -was born.
Over the years, Gracie and I lost contact although once in a blue moon, I would run into her when she was back in the area for a weekend visit or some such. But through Pat's list of classmates and because he has me on his recipient list -as a "thank you" for helping him to track down some stragglers from the Cooper Class -my e-mail address is included on his list, available to his real classmates.
And last night, I got this great e-mail from Gracie -reconnecting once again -as she told me how many memories she had of the kids in that photo as well as our old church here that had burned to the ground back in May of 1967.
Now, earlier this past week, I had e-mailed a gentleman who is originally from this area and who I have known all my life. HIs family homestead was about seven doors up the street from mine and his mother and aunt were very good friends of my grandparents. His mother and aunt lived in New York (Brooklyn, I think but I'm not positive on that) during the winter months and then, come late spring, they would return here to their homestead and spend the summer in a very familiar setting.
This man, Arthur Sherman, is now 88 years old -in very good health -both mentally and physically -surprised me completely last night when he phoned me! Seems when he awoke yesterday morning, he had (as he explained this to me) announced to his wife that he was going to call me yesterday. And the reason behind that decision was that they had recently purchased a new cell phone -one which gave very good reception to call out from their home (the one they had previously they couldn't get a signal from their home so used it only when they travelled) and with this new phone he also has a service plan that provides him with 700 free minutes per month, so as he told me when we talked, he is going to try his level best to use everyone -or as near as possible -of those 700 minutes of free calling time!
However, he had also told me that he and his wife don't tend to check their e-mail daily but later yesterday afternoon, in checking their e-mail he had found my note to him from two or three days earlier and that note, along with some of the things I had written about to him, solidified his decision then to telephone me!
Now, I ask you, how cool is all of that? Some of these little contact things have come to me via posts on my blog and some, from the wonderful invention of e-mail too. But all of them tie back in one way or another to the tool we all have to have in order to use e-mail or to blog -a good old computer, don't 'cha know!
And finally -yes, all good (or bad sometimes) things do eventually come to an end but I have one more thing that happened yesterday that really fascinates me too.
You'll recall if you've followed my blog for any length of time now, that I am very interested in family tree stuff and I love being able to learn more too about my ethnic background, which is Swedish and Scottish. Since about late 1999 or early 2000 -shortly after I got my first computer at home -I have been communicating with a lady in Mellerud, Sweden -Anneli Andersson. I've even been lucky enough to have met her too on two of her visits to this country -in 2006 and again, in 2007. We write back and forth now and then but not on a steady, regular basis.
However, yesterday I received an e-mail from her telling me about a program she and a friend of hers are going to be starting this coming fall in their local school in Sweden. This will involve children around the ages of 11-12 years old and to set it up, she would like to find a school perhaps in this country that would be willing to set up a program in conjunction with the one she and her friend are going to be doing in Sweden. This would be a communcations type of learning experience for kids in that age range in this country and Sweden that would help these young people to learn language skills, particularly for the Swedish children to learn English better and maybe even assist kids here to pick up a bit of the Swedish language. But it would also be a means for a cultural exchange where each group would learn traditions, the culture, of another country, in a more personal manner. She was thinking perhaps it would only be of interest to children with some Swedish ethnic background, but I think it would be a wonderful way for all kids, regardless of their ethnicity, to learn about another culture -the history, the geography, the social mores and such.
I'm going to work on this here to see if I can stir up enough interest and support between our school district, perhaps through members of the church I belong to as well, and who knows, maybe someone reading this somewhere would be interested in helping my friend, Anneli in Sweden, to get this learning experience off the ground, up and running!
I already volunteered my grandson, Alex, to be a pen pal with Anneli's son, Jonathon. Alex will be 12 in August and Jonathon will be 11 so they are close enough in age to have a lot of common interests and such and I'm fairly certain Alex would really enjoy doing something like this too. Maybe, through him, I could get a teacher or group from his school in Bellefonte, PA to take part in this experience too.
Anneli would also like to receive stories too about people who came to this country -preferably from the Dalsland area in Sweden but I don't think she would turn down emmigration stories from other parts of Sweden (maybe even other countries too) about our ancestors and their journey from there to here.
So, now I ask you -my readers -wherever you are, whatever your ethnic background may be too -do you have any stories passed down from generation to generation about your ancestors and their passage to this country?
I can think of three about some of my ancestors -I'll save them for another post though. (Yeah, I know you're all probably wiping your brows in relief to hear that, aren't you?) How did your ancestors come to America (Canada or the U.S.) ? What made them decide to come here? What difficulties did they have to just get on the boat or on the trip and after they arrived? What type of work did they do then after setting up a home here? And do you or your family observe today any of traditions from the "old country" too?
Lots of questions there and I'm sure many of you could give me lots and lots of stories, answers to these questions.
So if any of you reading this would even like to participate with Anneli in her quest to help the children in her area of Sweden to learn what life was like for the people making this difficult move -regardless of how many years ago it was -that would just be, as the old saying goes, "Icing on the cake." All you have to do is contact me and I can then put you in contact with Anneli too!
Wouldn't it be great though to be a part of a way to share and learn a bit more history and a lot more about other countries, other cultures?
And the value of that would be absolutely priceless.
Saturday, October 20, 2007
The View From My Window
Here it is folks - October 20th and time for the great unveiling so we can give everyone a little bit of a glimpse into our lives - especially pertaining to the spots surrounding us, or things we tend to see as we glance around.
This idea was started a couple weeks ago by Gene Bach - a firefighter out in northern California and author of a really great blog - Turning the Pages of Life. Gene thought this would be something really interesting - and perhaps even a bit educational too - for us to try to showcase our village, town, city and items of interest around each of us.
I live in a small village in central Pennsylvania -in Clearfield County. The name of the place where I live is, in my opinion, a bit misleading - Grassflat -because about the only place that is flat here is maybe down in the valley part of town where my home is located. One thing for sure, there is no way into this place without traveling down some hills! Ok, these hills are also part of the Allegheny mountain chain and, compared to the Rockies or the Sierra Nevadas, these are small potatoes. But, even so, in the dead of winter, when the snow flies here, they can be a bit difficult to manipulate a vehicle to get out of town.
The photos to the left here were taken back in March of 1994 - which was really the winter from Hell in central Pennsylvania. We had snowfall, many quite significant accumulations too, from January 2nd of 1994 until the end of March, including a massive blizzard in early March during "Spring Break." Some spring! I don't recall offhand now exactly how many inches of snow fell during this blizzard, but that winter of 1993-94, this area had an overall accumulation of 114 inches of snow! Now, compared to some other areas, I agree, this is small potatoes, but for this area, it was a major thing! In all the years I've lived here, we've had three snowstorms that qualified as "Blizzards" - one in March of 1993, this one in March of 1994 and the third one was, I believe, in January of 1996. The two pictures in the middle -showing the small ranch house - those "bumps" in the front yard were actually of my next-door neighbor's car, which was totally covered. The other photos are of the street directly in front of my house - after the road had been found and plowed.
The photo to the right here was taken a little more recently - like last February - and it shows my little Princess, Maya, playing in front of our house in the snow. The snowfall that time was a bit more in line with what we normally receive here - probably about 8 to 10 inches of the white fluffy stuff. This was the very first time Maya had been able to go outside and actually "play" in the snow and she loved it - absolutely loved it. However, I am no longer the "snowbunny" type I once was -oh about 50 years or so ago -and this was still more snow than I really appreciated receiving.
This picture -obviously taken in the summertime because it is all green and shows the gentle hills here, was taken atop an old coal mine tipple that sits on the hillside about a half-mile from my home. This is a view of the lower end of the village where I live and those little white specs almost in the middle of the photo are of my house and the houses directly surrounding my place. Ok, so it doesn't show MY HOUSE specifically, I chose the photo because I think it is such a pretty shot of the area and the fullness of all the trees around the town.
The picture here -to the right -is of one of the more historic elements around where I live. There is a ghost coal mining town about 1-2 miles down the road from my home and this is the railroad tunnel atop the mountain in the once bustling little town of Peale, PA. The town of Peale was built by the Clearfield Bituminous Coal Company (CBC) back around 1883-1884 and when the town was ready to be populated and the mines there worked, the coal company moved people from another coal town about 90-100 miles from here in Lycoming County over a weekend in October of 1884. This was most likely one of the views those early settlers saw as they moved here from McIntyre. My great-grandparents and six of their children were among those who made that trip and relocated to Peale at that time.
This stream is called the Red Moshannon Creek and it runs through the mountains here, below where the Peale Tunnel in the above photo is located. This stream is red in color from drainage from the old mines that operated in that area 100 to 120 some years ago, well before any EPA requirements were in place.
Every year, for over 40 years now, there is a big canoe/kayak race that takes place the last Saturday of March and the racers put in at this location. It's become a very well known race and frequently competitors come here from places I think as far west now as the Mississippi River. The race is a seven mile course and ends at a bridge along Rte 53 between the villages of Moshannon and Drifting and can be a really hazardous run too if the weather and water aren't totally cooperative.
And here, to the right, is a view of the Black Moshannon Creek, a great trout fishing stream that runs through the mountains here and it is where this stream and the Red Moshannon (above) join at the foot of the mountain near here that the canoe race ends. There used to be an old iron bridge that spanned the place where the two creeks come together but it was replaced about two-three years ago with a new concrete structure and now, it's very difficult to get some really nice pictures of where the two streams come together.
This is a glimpse of something my son and son-in-law like to do whenever they can - winter baja stuff with their volkswagon bugs! This, taken atop the mountain in Peale (above the tunnel) is my son's little bug which he dearly loves to take it out and get it all muddied up and see how much action and traction he and his brother-in-law can get with these vehicles on the old dirt roads surrounding the area. Frankly, I don't begin to understand why you would go to all the trouble of rebuilding such a cute little car and then, go run it into mud holes, slopping it all up and possibly even ruining it too. The only difference as you know between men and boys would be the size and price of their toys. Guess this shows that to be the truth, doesn't it?
And this is my son-in-law during one of his most favorite times of the year - late November, early December when it is deer season. For those of you who don't like this type of activity, I do apologize but around these hills, this is the norm. My son-in-law does not hunt these purely for the sport or the antlers but rather for the meat which he adeptly cuts up and it serves to stock our freezer then usually for several months when he is fortunate enough to get a nice buck or a doe. Although my older daughter professes to not like venison, she has had it served to her here on many occasions, went back for second helpings of it too and never knew the difference! It really is a healthy alternative to beef as venison is much less fatty - also pretty doggone good too!
This is the main road, Route 53, that goes by (not through) the little village of Grassflat. This picture is taken on the northern side of the town at the entrance by Jim and Charmaine's Restaurant - one of the places I mention frequently in various posts on my blog. To the left, by the trees along the road is the Marquee for the restaurant which was demolished a week ago yesterday when a drunk driver coming down the slight hill there ran off the road and hit the marquee as well as a telephone/power pole there and plunged the entire town into total darkness for 11 long hours last Thursday night at 12:55 a.m. To the right, just beyond the sign to Grassflat is where the local funeral home is located. The driver of the vehicle last week was just lucky in that he escaped with no injuries whatsoever. Wonder if he was thinking when he crashed that he was pretty doggone close to where he might have been laid out if the circumstances had been a lot more unfortunate for him?
Interstate 80 - one of the "coast-to-coast" highways in the U.S. - runs through our area within about 5-6 miles from my house. This bridge is of what is known as the Viaduct Bridge on I-80 - one of the highest and longest of the interstate bridges in Pennsylvania. The stream it is crossing over here is the Red Moshannon creek -a couple of miles above where the "Red Mo" canoe/kayak races take place every year. There is also an old railroad bridge that spans the creek at this location and the interstate bridges cross over that bridge as well.
And here is the railroad bridge built in the mid-to-late 1880's as part of the Beech Creek Railroad line. This bridge, just below the above interstate bridges is, if I remember my statistics, roughly a quarter of a mile long and about 155-160 feet high. It hasn't been used for many years now but it is one of the things that is a big part of the history of the area where I live. Just beyond the mountain in the distance on this picture is the little village of Lanse, PA and adjacent to it, is the village where I live - probably about 4-5 miles (as the crow flies) from where this bridge span is located. I love the coloring of the trees in this shot especially!
This is a view I see everyday from where I sit at my computer -with the exception of the young lady seated at the counter that is! The young lady at the table is my "baby" daughter, Mandy and the other good looker is my niece, Angie. This is looking out towards my kitchen, through the dining room of the house and was taken when Angie, her husband and their two children were here on the Fourth of July. Although my kids have several cousins on their Dad's side (no first cousins on my side since I am an only child), this niece, her brother and sister as well as their two half-sisters and half-brother are the only first cousins my kids have that they actually know! That, to me, is just terribly sad. But their other cousins either live in Illinois or one in Georgia and they've never had the opportunity to meet them.
This is my final picture in this edition of "The View From My Window" and this is what I often have behind my back as I sit at the olde computer here and blog away. The little girl on the left is my great-niece, Lizzie - daughter of my niece, Angie, in the above photo and that, of course, is my little Princess Maya on the right. Maya and Lizzie were born four days apart so they generally play together relatively well -as well as any two four-year-olds will play together anyway!
I have to confess now too that not all of these photos were taken by me. All the photos taken of the mountains, the streams, the ghost town, were taken by a very good friend of mine - Jeff Feldmeier, from Allen Park, Michigan. Jeff grew up in Michigan but has family that still lives in this area and he is very interested in the local history, the geography of the area too. As such, he probably knows more about these hills that do many of us who have lived here all our lives.
This area used to be very productive - coal mines, railroading, lumbering - and now, while there is still some activity in those industries here, it is but a shell of what it used to be.
My home town, when I was growing up, had two general stores, a restaurant, movie theatre and three places that were "watering holes" - the Moose, Johnny's Bar and the Jednota Club. We also at that time had four churches within the village as well as two churches right on the outskirts too. Today, we still have the Moose, the bar is now called "Cooper's" and there is one church left. The stores have been gone for about 20-30 years now. We had a post office too when I was a youngun and we no longer have that either. It was replaced in 1994 with "cluster boxes" which in essence is just rural delivery but to one of three clusters of mail boxes strategically placed within the town. The nice thing about that is you can pick up your mail anytime -day or night. The drawback is that if you need stamps, you do it via leaving either an envelope in your mail box one day for the carrier to pick up and return it the next day with your stamps or you have to drive to one of the adjacent villages to the post office in those towns. The other thing that is missing with no post office is that the town lost much of its social fabric when the post office was removed. It used to be the place for people to gather and converse - or gossip -exchange information as to who was sick, getting married, having problems - you name it, the people relied on that for a means of communication and it drew folks together.
And I do miss that - a lot - today.
This idea was started a couple weeks ago by Gene Bach - a firefighter out in northern California and author of a really great blog - Turning the Pages of Life. Gene thought this would be something really interesting - and perhaps even a bit educational too - for us to try to showcase our village, town, city and items of interest around each of us.
I live in a small village in central Pennsylvania -in Clearfield County. The name of the place where I live is, in my opinion, a bit misleading - Grassflat -because about the only place that is flat here is maybe down in the valley part of town where my home is located. One thing for sure, there is no way into this place without traveling down some hills! Ok, these hills are also part of the Allegheny mountain chain and, compared to the Rockies or the Sierra Nevadas, these are small potatoes. But, even so, in the dead of winter, when the snow flies here, they can be a bit difficult to manipulate a vehicle to get out of town.
The photos to the left here were taken back in March of 1994 - which was really the winter from Hell in central Pennsylvania. We had snowfall, many quite significant accumulations too, from January 2nd of 1994 until the end of March, including a massive blizzard in early March during "Spring Break." Some spring! I don't recall offhand now exactly how many inches of snow fell during this blizzard, but that winter of 1993-94, this area had an overall accumulation of 114 inches of snow! Now, compared to some other areas, I agree, this is small potatoes, but for this area, it was a major thing! In all the years I've lived here, we've had three snowstorms that qualified as "Blizzards" - one in March of 1993, this one in March of 1994 and the third one was, I believe, in January of 1996. The two pictures in the middle -showing the small ranch house - those "bumps" in the front yard were actually of my next-door neighbor's car, which was totally covered. The other photos are of the street directly in front of my house - after the road had been found and plowed.
The photo to the right here was taken a little more recently - like last February - and it shows my little Princess, Maya, playing in front of our house in the snow. The snowfall that time was a bit more in line with what we normally receive here - probably about 8 to 10 inches of the white fluffy stuff. This was the very first time Maya had been able to go outside and actually "play" in the snow and she loved it - absolutely loved it. However, I am no longer the "snowbunny" type I once was -oh about 50 years or so ago -and this was still more snow than I really appreciated receiving.
This picture -obviously taken in the summertime because it is all green and shows the gentle hills here, was taken atop an old coal mine tipple that sits on the hillside about a half-mile from my home. This is a view of the lower end of the village where I live and those little white specs almost in the middle of the photo are of my house and the houses directly surrounding my place. Ok, so it doesn't show MY HOUSE specifically, I chose the photo because I think it is such a pretty shot of the area and the fullness of all the trees around the town.
The picture here -to the right -is of one of the more historic elements around where I live. There is a ghost coal mining town about 1-2 miles down the road from my home and this is the railroad tunnel atop the mountain in the once bustling little town of Peale, PA. The town of Peale was built by the Clearfield Bituminous Coal Company (CBC) back around 1883-1884 and when the town was ready to be populated and the mines there worked, the coal company moved people from another coal town about 90-100 miles from here in Lycoming County over a weekend in October of 1884. This was most likely one of the views those early settlers saw as they moved here from McIntyre. My great-grandparents and six of their children were among those who made that trip and relocated to Peale at that time.
This stream is called the Red Moshannon Creek and it runs through the mountains here, below where the Peale Tunnel in the above photo is located. This stream is red in color from drainage from the old mines that operated in that area 100 to 120 some years ago, well before any EPA requirements were in place.Every year, for over 40 years now, there is a big canoe/kayak race that takes place the last Saturday of March and the racers put in at this location. It's become a very well known race and frequently competitors come here from places I think as far west now as the Mississippi River. The race is a seven mile course and ends at a bridge along Rte 53 between the villages of Moshannon and Drifting and can be a really hazardous run too if the weather and water aren't totally cooperative.
And here, to the right, is a view of the Black Moshannon Creek, a great trout fishing stream that runs through the mountains here and it is where this stream and the Red Moshannon (above) join at the foot of the mountain near here that the canoe race ends. There used to be an old iron bridge that spanned the place where the two creeks come together but it was replaced about two-three years ago with a new concrete structure and now, it's very difficult to get some really nice pictures of where the two streams come together.
This is a glimpse of something my son and son-in-law like to do whenever they can - winter baja stuff with their volkswagon bugs! This, taken atop the mountain in Peale (above the tunnel) is my son's little bug which he dearly loves to take it out and get it all muddied up and see how much action and traction he and his brother-in-law can get with these vehicles on the old dirt roads surrounding the area. Frankly, I don't begin to understand why you would go to all the trouble of rebuilding such a cute little car and then, go run it into mud holes, slopping it all up and possibly even ruining it too. The only difference as you know between men and boys would be the size and price of their toys. Guess this shows that to be the truth, doesn't it?
And this is my son-in-law during one of his most favorite times of the year - late November, early December when it is deer season. For those of you who don't like this type of activity, I do apologize but around these hills, this is the norm. My son-in-law does not hunt these purely for the sport or the antlers but rather for the meat which he adeptly cuts up and it serves to stock our freezer then usually for several months when he is fortunate enough to get a nice buck or a doe. Although my older daughter professes to not like venison, she has had it served to her here on many occasions, went back for second helpings of it too and never knew the difference! It really is a healthy alternative to beef as venison is much less fatty - also pretty doggone good too!
This is the main road, Route 53, that goes by (not through) the little village of Grassflat. This picture is taken on the northern side of the town at the entrance by Jim and Charmaine's Restaurant - one of the places I mention frequently in various posts on my blog. To the left, by the trees along the road is the Marquee for the restaurant which was demolished a week ago yesterday when a drunk driver coming down the slight hill there ran off the road and hit the marquee as well as a telephone/power pole there and plunged the entire town into total darkness for 11 long hours last Thursday night at 12:55 a.m. To the right, just beyond the sign to Grassflat is where the local funeral home is located. The driver of the vehicle last week was just lucky in that he escaped with no injuries whatsoever. Wonder if he was thinking when he crashed that he was pretty doggone close to where he might have been laid out if the circumstances had been a lot more unfortunate for him?
Interstate 80 - one of the "coast-to-coast" highways in the U.S. - runs through our area within about 5-6 miles from my house. This bridge is of what is known as the Viaduct Bridge on I-80 - one of the highest and longest of the interstate bridges in Pennsylvania. The stream it is crossing over here is the Red Moshannon creek -a couple of miles above where the "Red Mo" canoe/kayak races take place every year. There is also an old railroad bridge that spans the creek at this location and the interstate bridges cross over that bridge as well.
And here is the railroad bridge built in the mid-to-late 1880's as part of the Beech Creek Railroad line. This bridge, just below the above interstate bridges is, if I remember my statistics, roughly a quarter of a mile long and about 155-160 feet high. It hasn't been used for many years now but it is one of the things that is a big part of the history of the area where I live. Just beyond the mountain in the distance on this picture is the little village of Lanse, PA and adjacent to it, is the village where I live - probably about 4-5 miles (as the crow flies) from where this bridge span is located. I love the coloring of the trees in this shot especially!
This is a view I see everyday from where I sit at my computer -with the exception of the young lady seated at the counter that is! The young lady at the table is my "baby" daughter, Mandy and the other good looker is my niece, Angie. This is looking out towards my kitchen, through the dining room of the house and was taken when Angie, her husband and their two children were here on the Fourth of July. Although my kids have several cousins on their Dad's side (no first cousins on my side since I am an only child), this niece, her brother and sister as well as their two half-sisters and half-brother are the only first cousins my kids have that they actually know! That, to me, is just terribly sad. But their other cousins either live in Illinois or one in Georgia and they've never had the opportunity to meet them.
This is my final picture in this edition of "The View From My Window" and this is what I often have behind my back as I sit at the olde computer here and blog away. The little girl on the left is my great-niece, Lizzie - daughter of my niece, Angie, in the above photo and that, of course, is my little Princess Maya on the right. Maya and Lizzie were born four days apart so they generally play together relatively well -as well as any two four-year-olds will play together anyway!
I have to confess now too that not all of these photos were taken by me. All the photos taken of the mountains, the streams, the ghost town, were taken by a very good friend of mine - Jeff Feldmeier, from Allen Park, Michigan. Jeff grew up in Michigan but has family that still lives in this area and he is very interested in the local history, the geography of the area too. As such, he probably knows more about these hills that do many of us who have lived here all our lives.
This area used to be very productive - coal mines, railroading, lumbering - and now, while there is still some activity in those industries here, it is but a shell of what it used to be.
My home town, when I was growing up, had two general stores, a restaurant, movie theatre and three places that were "watering holes" - the Moose, Johnny's Bar and the Jednota Club. We also at that time had four churches within the village as well as two churches right on the outskirts too. Today, we still have the Moose, the bar is now called "Cooper's" and there is one church left. The stores have been gone for about 20-30 years now. We had a post office too when I was a youngun and we no longer have that either. It was replaced in 1994 with "cluster boxes" which in essence is just rural delivery but to one of three clusters of mail boxes strategically placed within the town. The nice thing about that is you can pick up your mail anytime -day or night. The drawback is that if you need stamps, you do it via leaving either an envelope in your mail box one day for the carrier to pick up and return it the next day with your stamps or you have to drive to one of the adjacent villages to the post office in those towns. The other thing that is missing with no post office is that the town lost much of its social fabric when the post office was removed. It used to be the place for people to gather and converse - or gossip -exchange information as to who was sick, getting married, having problems - you name it, the people relied on that for a means of communication and it drew folks together.
And I do miss that - a lot - today.
Tuesday, April 03, 2007
Red MO Race - history now!
I noticed tonight while looking over my sitemeter statistics that a lot of folks coming to my blog today got here from a search about the "Red Moshannon Down River Race" which took place this past Saturday and is now in canoe/kayak racing history.
For anyone looking here to see if I have photos posted from the race or results for the race - winners, etc - I apologize as I don't have either. (I wasn't able to go down to Peale to observe as I was in charge of my two younger grandkids plus three stepgrandchildren for the day and there's no way I'm lugging a rambunctious walking three-year old and carrying an equally rambunctious one-year old through all the foot traffic there!
However, if you haven't already checked the Centre Daily Times website in the Sunday edition (April 1st), here's the website for the article they posted about the race.
http://www.centredaily.com/116/story/56747.html
It's a really good piece, written by Mike Joseph of the CDT news staff and also included several great photos of the race, starting at the Peale bridge.
The Clearfield Progress in today's paper (Monday - April 2nd) had a photo on the front page of the race and states that they will publish results of the race later this week.
Excuse my grumpiness there about the Progress and their coverage of this event - the "results will be published later this week" thing and the lovely ONE PHOTO too, but that, in my opinion, is pretty much typical of anything that takes place in Clearfield County that doesn't happen right in CLEARFIELD! Well, geez Louise, excuse me all to you know where and back again!
The eastern portion of the county is generally referred to as the "Down River" region and every now and again, something neat and exciting does take place in this part of the county too! I.E. - The Red Mo Race that begins in Peale and ends at the bridge at the foot of the Moshannon Mountain, for openers!
Not that the CDT likes to give this region all that much recognition either most of the time - hey, I'm calling a spade a spade there - but the Progress touts itself as being THE Clearfield County Newspaper so it sure would be nice if they recognized news that happens in ALL parts of the darned county, don't 'cha think?
And, for any of you who might be interested in reading more about Peale and the surrounding communities, keep checking back here as I am in the process of putting together a new blog which will be a "sister-site" to the website currently shown on my blog - under the "favorite blogs I like to read" -Peale, The Ghost Coal Mining Town .
Stop back, look around, drop me a line through e-mail (found on my profile) or leave a comment (or two or more) on my blog too! (You can do this whether you have a blog or not - simply use the "anonymous" button to leave a comment if you aren't a blogger too.)
I'd love to hear from you!
For anyone looking here to see if I have photos posted from the race or results for the race - winners, etc - I apologize as I don't have either. (I wasn't able to go down to Peale to observe as I was in charge of my two younger grandkids plus three stepgrandchildren for the day and there's no way I'm lugging a rambunctious walking three-year old and carrying an equally rambunctious one-year old through all the foot traffic there!
However, if you haven't already checked the Centre Daily Times website in the Sunday edition (April 1st), here's the website for the article they posted about the race.
http://www.centredaily.com/116/story/56747.html
It's a really good piece, written by Mike Joseph of the CDT news staff and also included several great photos of the race, starting at the Peale bridge.
The Clearfield Progress in today's paper (Monday - April 2nd) had a photo on the front page of the race and states that they will publish results of the race later this week.
Excuse my grumpiness there about the Progress and their coverage of this event - the "results will be published later this week" thing and the lovely ONE PHOTO too, but that, in my opinion, is pretty much typical of anything that takes place in Clearfield County that doesn't happen right in CLEARFIELD! Well, geez Louise, excuse me all to you know where and back again!
The eastern portion of the county is generally referred to as the "Down River" region and every now and again, something neat and exciting does take place in this part of the county too! I.E. - The Red Mo Race that begins in Peale and ends at the bridge at the foot of the Moshannon Mountain, for openers!
Not that the CDT likes to give this region all that much recognition either most of the time - hey, I'm calling a spade a spade there - but the Progress touts itself as being THE Clearfield County Newspaper so it sure would be nice if they recognized news that happens in ALL parts of the darned county, don't 'cha think?
And, for any of you who might be interested in reading more about Peale and the surrounding communities, keep checking back here as I am in the process of putting together a new blog which will be a "sister-site" to the website currently shown on my blog - under the "favorite blogs I like to read" -Peale, The Ghost Coal Mining Town .
Stop back, look around, drop me a line through e-mail (found on my profile) or leave a comment (or two or more) on my blog too! (You can do this whether you have a blog or not - simply use the "anonymous" button to leave a comment if you aren't a blogger too.)
I'd love to hear from you!
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